Builder ready to 'move quickly'

Builder ready to 'move quickly'

ORILLIA - A developer proposing a joint venture on a south-end property says a recreation facility could be under way at the FLSmidth site next year.
“We are early in the process, but we understand the need to move quickly on this site and that’s what we intend to do,” said MADY Development Corporation senior vice-president and CFO Greg Puklicz.
However, a local councillor has cast doubt on the notion that a recreation facility would move ahead quickly at the site, saying the proposed timeline for the pool-and-gym project “is in severe jeopardy.”
“We are really no further ahead than we were a year ago,” a frustrated Michael Fogarty said this week.
The highly anticipated decision on a site has been delayed as the city seeks more information on a potential partnership at the FLSmidth property.
“When the landscape keeps changing, we have to keep adjusting,” said Fogarty. “The timeline keeps getting stretched and stretched and stretched.”
MADY Development Corporation has secured an Agreement of Purchase and Sale for 174 West St. S.
Puklicz declined to elaborate on the terms of the agreement with the property’s current owner, saying the deal was subject to a confidentially agreement.
“We are very interested in working with the city on the rec facilities,” he added.
Asked whether the project as envisioned by his company would accommodate more than a pool and gym, if council saw fit to expand recreation facilities there, Puklicz said, “the site is 22 acres.
“We are not locked into any specific plan right now,” he added. “We are just assessing what all the needs are before we commit to any specific plan at this time. But we do have room for the city to be able to use more land if that’s what they’d like to do.”
Staff met with company representatives Tuesday to answer questions from council.
“We were very encouraged by the meeting,” said Puklicz. “It is a matter of property right now, so obviously it needs to be treated confidentially.”
Asked whether an agreement with the municipality would involve the city purchasing a portion of the property, Puklicz said “we haven’t gotten into those details at this point.”
Councillors this week postponed a motion that would have resulted in the city conducting further due diligence at the property at a cost of more than $100,000, saying it needed more information on MADY’s proposal.
“What parcel of property are we going to buy?” said Fogarty. “Are we going to buy part, are we going to buy whole? What are we going to build? What are they going to bring to the table? Then we’ve got the environmental (component).”
Puklicz said his company would be conducting “full and complete due diligence on all aspects of the property.”
The company has previous reports on the property, he added.
“We are not hitting the ground with no information,” he added. “We do have a significant amount of information that we are vetting now and reviewing.”
Asked whether the city would be expected to undertake its own environmental legwork, Puklicz said, “that hasn’t really been resolved yet, who would do what.”
Coun. Patrick Kehoe said the FLSmidth site presents a golden opportunity.
“We have, through our actions, an opportunity to make a significant difference in our community by leveraging a capital decision and using it to seed the potential investment of tens of millions of dollars, the creation of jobs, the revitalization of a much needed corridor, the creation of a community within our community with unrivaled open space parkland and outdoor amenities,” Kehoe said.
Fogarty stressed that the David H. Church property and McKinnell Square Park have not been ruled out as candidates for a pool and gym.